CAPERDONICH 1968 40YO - DUNCAN TAYLOR

First of all I want to wish you all a Happy New Year!

The Malt Desk will be 3 years in come May 22nd 2015 which some of you know is also the legal age for Scotch Whisky. Think we might celebrate that a little when we reach the end of May :-)

Now, I just mentioned age which is something the Scotch Whisky industry haven't been very good at lately - as it seems they'd rather have no age on their bottlings... a trend I'm sad to say, that's gaining more and more ground with the producers... :-( This topic has it's been covered plenty on here and on many other whisky blogs/vlogs, and I'm afraid that we do have to get used to a range of whiskies where many are now below par in quality and over priced... and until either the whisky bubble bursts or (new) whisky drinkers become aware that whisky used to/can taste better than what's being hitting the market at the moment, we'll just have to settle with what in our cupboards, 'cause life is simple too short for bad whisky.

That said, there are a few producers out there that do put out decent No Age Statement whisky, but they are few and far between - so if you're just starting out on your whisky journey, I suggest you visit as many blogs, forums etc to try and get a lay of the whisky land as regards to the whole No Age Statement concept and from that make up your own mind...

Phew, I had promised myself that the last post in 2014 wasn't going to be a rant on missing age statements and/or anything else, but since its easy (for me) to get passionate about a thing like this, it happened anyway... and to round that off, I'll rub this whole age thing in a bit and do a review of some 40yo whisky from 1968.

Caperdonich 1968 40yo (15.10.1968/04.12.2008) 52% cask#2612, bottle no. 39 of 94, Duncan Taylor

Colour is amber

Nose:
First think that hits you is the oak, quite a bit actually but once you've gotten used to the nose tingle, it also bring crush pepper, fruit and some of the 52% alcohol. There's spirit filled chocolates, heavy vanilla, bit of varnish, mango chutney, melon, herbs (tyme?) a little hint of flowers and old veneer cigarbox

Taste:
Gentle arrival and then a rush of fruit and old oak wood spices... Ginger (ale), nutmeg, mint, lemon/lime, honey, som wood shavings and fruits all sort, but mainly the more exotic kind. Finishes mainly on ginger and also some dashes of cinnamon.

This is very much an oak driven dram and it might not be to everyones preference.
I'm actually guessing quite a few will say this has too much oak... and its walking a very fine oak branch here, I agree

89/100!

Happy New Year 2015!

CAPERDONICH 1992 20YO - BERRY BROS & RUDD

Key words here are:

Demolished Speyside distillery, there's a hype around bottlings from 1972, used to be called Glen Grant#2, had a pipe with new make spirit going across the road to the filling store... I'm, of course, talking about the Caperdonich Distillery as you might already have guessed from the headline ;-)

The production from those years, almost all went into blends, but some casks escaped the blending vat, making it possible for us to try lost malts like this one today...

Here's my view on this 20yo expression...

Caperdonich 1992 20yo 46%, ex-bourbon cask#121125, Berry Bros & Rudd

Colour is pale straw

Nose:
Vanilla, fruit and berries, mandarin, peeled grapefruit and gooseberries, grassy and a distinct oaky edge. Seems a little 'hot' on the nose...

Taste:
Oak spices, quite peppery actually, short malt rush, then a burst of fruit which quickly rushes off again. A very strange palate if you ask me - it seems a bit out of balance and actually quite spirity and hot at 46%. The addition of water takes away some of the heat and gives the fruits a bit more time to linger and also produces some faint licorice notes along with hint of pineapple.

This certainly needs water and once it had some it becomes a decent dram... but still lacking some balance, though...

82/100!

CAPERDONICH 1977 - CADENHEAD SMALL BATCH

This spring, during the Spirit of Speyside Festival, Mark Watt, now with Cadenhead, introduced those of us at his tasting, to the new Cadenhead Small Batch series.

The Small Batch series is made up from 1 cask to a vatting of a few casks and to make them more recognisable, its put in 70cl (small) clear dumpy bottles.... and we had an amazing lineup for that tasting - all were still cask samples at the time:

• Craigellachie 1994 18yo
• Cameronbridge 1989 24yo
• Cadenhead Creations Batch 1
• Glenlivet-Minmore 1970 43yo
• Bowmore 1998
• Highland Park 1988 25yo

Later, in the summer when these were bottled, I ended up with 2 x Highland Park 1988 25yo (a 2 cask bottling, btw) and 1 bottle of the Glenlivet-Minmore 1970 43yo (single cask) - Stellar stuff!! ...as were the Craigellachie for that matter :-)

Now, as I mentioned in my first Caperdonich review here on the blog, the grounds where Caperdonich Distillery used to be, now holds the expanded business of the Forsyth's Coppersmiths... and since I don't have a picture in my archives of Caperdonich, I'll bore you with a picture from Forsyths instead. When I visited in 2012 they were putting together a wash still for Irish Distillers in Middleton, Ireland - and a big one it was. It was on beams, so not to damage it but still, its a big one! Below picture is from next to the still... and I'm 6'4'' !! (193cm)

But back to today's review of the Caperdonich 1977, a bottling also from the small batch series. When I bought this, for me, it was clearly a bottle to keep... but I was also tempted to use at a recent tasting, so I caved in and did that, because I'm such a nice guy! ;-) and I know Mark Watt has a soft spot for Caperdonich, so I must admit I was expecting something extra special here.

Bottom half of a wash still going to Irish Distillers - its BIG, May 5th 2012 © The Malt Desk

Caperdonich 1977 35yo, 50,2%, Ex-sherry butt, 384 bottles, Cadenhead Small Batch

Colour is nutty brown

Nose:
Mid-aged rum and raisin, coffee, sweet sherry, some chocolate and dried fruits and mint. This could be extra spicy After Eights!

Taste:
Lovely clean sherry, though a tad bitter at first. Then oranges, dark fruits, mint again, honey and cherry liqueur. Finished on more dark and drying chocolate.

I'm a sucker for this style of whisky - a real autumn warmer and truly a little stunner and certainly one for you out there with a sweet tooth

You know how to pick them, Mark - Good job!

91/100!

CAPERDONICH 1972 - DUNCAN TAYLOR FOR WHISKYSHOP DUFFTOWN

This malt has completely taken off these past 3-4 years after a certain whisky ambassador started to promote its older bottlings. Today, bottlings of particularly the 1972 vintage is going for close to silly money on auctions.

Caperdonich in the village of Rothes is now demolished and the grounds have been taken over by Forsyths Coppersmiths which has built a new storage facility on the premises. The grounds were just across from Glen Grant Distillery and Caperdonich was often referred to as Glen Grant #2 and was never really intended to be a malt brand on its own... I see a big similarity with Caperdonich and Imperial here - Imperial, which this same whisky ambassador also made popular over night.

Caperdonich was finally closed in 2002 and was demolished in late 2010... but for historical reasons I think its good that the Caperdonich grounds are still used for whisky related purposes by the coppersmiths of Forsyths. Now on to my review of the Caperdonich... a bottle I brought home to Speyside to drink with friends at the Spirit of Speyside 2013 Spring Festival.

A new tube-condenser being fitted at Forsyths Coppersmiths in Rothes - 5th May 2012 - © The Malt Desk

Caperdonich 1972 37yo (17.07.2010) 49,7%, ex-bourbon cask ref#WSD002, Duncan Taylor for Whisky Shop Dufftown

Colour is full straw

Nose:
Oak tickling the nose at first, then fruits, melon, vanilla, citrus (lemons), freshly ground black pepper and even a hint of farmyard - very nice!

Taste:
Spicy, fruits, melon again too and with a little mango this time as well, some coconut - all very tropical - you'd just need the coconut cream for a Piña Colada. On the finish some cough drops, but sadly a little unwanted oakiness creeps in at the to deprive this one from reaching 90p.

Still a great dram and pick by Mike Lord from WSD

89/100!